Crabby’s Will Be Renamed Francisco’s

Crabby’s Bar & Grill will now be known as Francisco’s, which was the 59-year-old restaurant’s original name. 2113 E. Oklahoma Ave. Photo taken Feb. 13, 2023 by Sophie Bolich.

Fans of Crabby’s Bar & Grill had a bit of a scare Sunday when a Twitter user announced the restaurant’s closure. Friends of the owners were quick to set the record straight — the restaurant isn’t closing.

But the tweet did have one thing right — Crabby’s is no more. Instead, the restaurant is returning to its original title: Francisco’s.

The Italian restaurant, 2113 E. Oklahoma Ave., has operated in the Fernwood neighborhood, just south of Bay View, for 59 years under the ownership of Francis and Kathy Daniels.

The couple first opened the neighborhood spot in February of 1964, offering pork chops, fresh pasta, homemade pizzas and other Italian dishes, Kathy Daniels told Urban Milwaukee in an interview.

In the late 1990s, the restaurant expanded its menu to include a variety of seafood dishes such as seafood pasta, shrimp, crab, lobster, scallops, tilapia and more. To reflect the new offerings, the restaurant’s name was changed to Crabby’s.

“And if you ask my husband, he’ll tell you we named it Crabby’s because I get crabby when it’s hot,” Kathy Daniels joked. “Trust me, when it’s hot in that kitchen, I would get a little crabby.”

In 2017, Francis Daniels suffered a stroke, which led to another round of changes for the restaurant. “It’s been different,” Kathy Daniels said.

Since then, the restaurant has offered an abbreviated menu of homemade pizza, pizza burgers, sandwiches, garlic bread and spaghetti and meatballs.

The limited menu allows Kathy Daniels to keep up with the demands of the restaurant while navigating her husband’s ongoing recovery, but some customers weren’t happy with the change.

“We’ve lost clientele, but we still have a very strong client base,” Kathy Daniels said. “Mostly our friends who say ‘we’re going to come and support you regardless.'”

Now approaching its 59th birthday, the restaurant will get new signage to reflect its transition back to a classic Italian restaurant, sans seafood. New signage is likely to arrive by the end of the week. Soon after that, passersby and those driving along bustling Kinnickinnic Avenue will be able to view the updated signs installed on the north side of the building.

Francisco’s is located within a building originally built in 1922. The 5,437-square-foot dining room contains an island bar. High-top tables with comfortable, leather stools are placed along the outer walls.

The old-school restaurant remains cash-only, and is open Tuesday through Friday from 4:30 p.m. until 9 p.m. and Saturday from 4:30 p.m. until 10 p.m.

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